Parliament of Spain’s Navarre recognizes Armenian Genocide

June 24, 2014 - 14:18 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - As a result of several study visits organized by European Friends of Armenia (EuFoA) to Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh with different parliamentarians, the parliament of Navarre, Spain, adopted Monday, June 23, a declaration recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

The declaration adopted by the unicameral parliament reads that “in accordance with the resolution of the European Parliament of June 1987, reaffirmed by subsequent resolutions (February 28, 2002 and April 1, 2004), the events suffered by the Armenian people are an authentic genocide”.

“As we are nearing the centenary of the Armenian Genocide, such declarations clearly show European solidarity with Armenian people and their suffering,” commented EuFoA Director Eduardo Lorenzo Ochoa. “EuFoA is proud that thanks to its extensive network, more and more key European stakeholders are aware of the importance of this issue,” he added, according to an EuFoA press release

The declaration denounces the policy developed by the Turkish regime existing at that time and calls on Turkey “to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia in spirit of good and harmonious neighborhood, and to resolve their border dispute peacefully.”

In addition, the text underlines that given Turkey’s status as candidate for EU membership, those two issues (the recognition of the Genocide and the normalization of diplomatic relations) should be urgently addressed.

Navarre is a Spanish autonomous region in the north, bordering France, roughly the size of Cyprus (10,391 km2) and populated by around 650,000 inhabitants (equivalent of Montenegro). It is the fourth region in Spain that has recognized the Armenian Genocide, after the Basque Country, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres, and deportations involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, the Italian Chamber of Deputies, majority of U.S. states, parliaments of Greece, Cyprus, Argentina, Belgium and Wales, National Council of Switzerland, Chamber of Commons of Canada, Polish Sejm, Vatican, European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.